Sheriffs partner with Fish and Wildlife officers during hunting season

caljay30

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November 5, 2008
Sheriffs partner with Fish and Wildlife officers during hunting season

Joint pilot project targets hunting and traffic infractions

Edmonton... Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife officers will be working shoulder-to-shoulder with the province’s sheriffs in a southwestern Alberta pilot project to crack down on hunting and traffic infractions in a 1,100 square-km area near Waterton Lakes.

“This pilot project is located in an area with multiple landowners and has excellent habitat for wildlife,” said Ted Morton, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development. “This enhanced presence will help ensure the important tradition of hunting continues by decreasing conflicts between landowners and hunters.”

Sheriffs will participate in joint stop checks with Fish and Wildlife officers, concentrating on offences related to the Traffic Safety Act and assisting Fish and Wildlife officers with offences under the Wildlife Act.

“We know the high-profile presence of enforcement officers can create an effective deterrent to prevent violations from occurring in the first place,” said Fred Lindsay, Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security. “This increased enforcement presence in a potentially problematic area will help ensure the safety of both hunters and nearby residents.”

Increased sheriff patrols will help reduce infractions such as people entering private property without permission and people hunting from roadways. These increased patrols will occur in Wildlife Management Units 300a and 300b every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until November 30.

Just came across this thought I'd pass it on.... fyi.
 
Great...more Peace Officers to explain the Wildlife Act to...ugh

They should leave F&W work to F&W officers...not sherrifs, not parkies and not RCMP. Most don't have a clue but get pretty zealous about enforcing imaginary laws.........
 
Looks like you're good to go from Monday to Thursday in 300A & 300B though...great press release 'tards.

The Sheriff's Dept is just starting to make a welcomed dent in speeding and dangerous driving instances in this province and they should continue on with their original mandate. If F&W can't keep up with the infractions and complaints then maybe the Premier and Mr. Morton should look to increase their numbers as well.
 
O.P.P do it in Ontario. They seem to be more of a back up officer. Allowing the CO's to cover more area. Its worked well here.
 
O.P.P do it in Ontario. They seem to be more of a back up officer. Allowing the CO's to cover more area. Its worked well here.

IMHO it's a waste of Police resources...member, vehicle etc.. Are there that many criminal offences occuring in the bush that
require Police presence? Do we see PO's with CO's on the water during..say bass season? :confused:
Or is it just because we carry guns, and their presence is necessary to intimidate the hunting community? :eek:
And unless the PO is a hunter, most PO's knowledge of the hunting regs/firearm laws are meager at best.:rolleyes:
 
O.P.P do it in Ontario. They seem to be more of a back up officer. Allowing the CO's to cover more area. Its worked well here.

Bif difference between the OPP and ther RCMP wannabe Alberta Sheriffs, the OPP is a pretty good police force, the sherriffs are traffic ticket nazis.
 
Uh oh....another schithouse lawyern' thread. Okay, I'll bite

Alberta Sheriff's are mandated for vehicle enforcement, and often come across other violations in the course of their duties. Giving them "Ex-Officio" powers to deal with incidents other than motor vehicle statutes makes perfect sense.

Your never going to see a Ford Crown Victoria creeping down an unmaintained route along TOWNSHIP ###X-RANGE ROAD Rd XX - W5, nor wil a Sheriff EVER spearhead an the investigation of wildlife infraction.

If they encounter, they would have authority to detain, and call F&W. They will only serve to augement. That's it, that's all.

Have a great season everyone. Hakx
 
It's not a new concept. RCMP and Fish cops have been working game/check stops for years. 1 officer from each discipline.

What they really need in AB is about 30 new Fish and Wildlife officers. Maybe the sherriffs dept guys will be ok too, haven't had any experience with them.
 
If they encounter, they would have authority to detain, and call F&W. They will only serve to augement. That's it, that's all.

It's the detaining on charges they haven't got a clue about that scares me. Could really ruin a good hunting day. I've seen it with the Provincial Park Rangers countless times.......theyt don't know the wildlife act and some of them make up for that lack of knowledge with an attitude......sure the same will happen in some instances here. Leave F&W work to F&W officers.
 
IMHO it's a waste of Police resources...member, vehicle etc.. Are there that many criminal offences occuring in the bush that
require Police presence? Do we see PO's with CO's on the water during..say bass season? :confused:
Or is it just because we carry guns, and their presence is necessary to intimidate the hunting community? :eek:
And unless the PO is a hunter, most PO's knowledge of the hunting regs/firearm laws are meager at best.:rolleyes:

I dont know Beefman, when was the last time you saw a CO in deer season. I have not been checked in at least 8 years, so obvisously it makes sense to put an officer in with the CO so that at least they can spread out and try and catch some poachers. And CO's and OPP do ride the boat together in the summer.

When I have spoken with a CO or OPP I have never felt intimidated by either. Maybe people who feel intimidated are breaking the rules or something. The officers I dealt with were decent guys making sure everyone was playing by the rules.
 
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I dont know Beefman, when was the last time you saw a CO in deer season. I have not been checked in at least 8 years, so obvisously it makes sense to put an officer in with the CO so that at least they can spread out and try and catch some poachers. And CO's and OPP do ride the boat together in the summer.

When I have spoken with a CO or OPP I have never felt intimidated by either. Maybe people who feel intimidated are breaking the rules or something. The officers I dealt with were decent guys making sure everyone was playing by the rules.

I've seen a CO 2 times in 15 years during gun week. 1 time with PO.
Don't get me wrong, I know most of the CO in my area...even called them at home to clarify reg. misprints. I always follow the letter of the law. PERIOD.
By "poachers" i hope you mean the guys that trespass(w/o perm) to recover deer. That would be good.:D
I just think a PO's time could be spent doing something a little more productive than a walk in the woods.:)
 
I've seen a CO 2 times in 15 years during gun week. 1 time with PO.
Don't get me wrong, I know most of the CO in my area...even called them at home to clarify reg. misprints. I always follow the letter of the law. PERIOD.
By "poachers" i hope you mean the guys that trespass(w/o perm) to recover deer. That would be good.:D
I just think a PO's time could be spent doing something a little more productive than a walk in the woods.:)

By poachers I am referring to guys who don't tag deer, shoot from the road, leave loaded guns in vehicles unattended, and are general morons.
I am not referring to anyone on this website.

A poacher is not someone who recovers a legally taken deer after it crosses a fence:D

I have never had to face this dilemma personally but I can only imagine how frustrating it could be for the hunter.
 
I've seen a CO 2 times in 15 years during gun week. 1 time with PO.
Don't get me wrong, I know most of the CO in my area...even called them at home to clarify reg. misprints. I always follow the letter of the law. PERIOD.
By "poachers" i hope you mean the guys that trespass(w/o perm) to recover deer. That would be good.:D
I just think a PO's time could be spent doing something a little more productive than a walk in the woods.:)

By poachers I am referring to guys who don't tag deer, shoot from the road, leave loaded guns in vehicles unattended, and are general morons.
I am not referring to anyone on this website.

A poacher is not someone who recovers a legally taken deer after it crosses a fence:D

I have never had to face this dilemma personally, but I can only imagine how frustrating it could be for the hunter.
 
I think it's a shame and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Ted Morton seems to have some kind of twitch when it comes to WMU 300 and I wish he'd find somewhere else to stir pots. The media coverage down here, because of the pilot project, has done the hunting community no favors.

I got stopped at a check stop tonight that included a half a dozen sheriff's and the local F&W officer. The sheriff's acted like secretary's for the CO and he did the firearms, license, and game inspections. It was pretty quick and painless, but what a waste of money.
 
The simple fact that guys are posting warnings about extra enforcement and where it is indicates that there are still a large number of people out there poaching and not hunting. We should all do our best to report poaching and to comply with any and all game checks/PO's/CO's we encounter while enjoying our sport. If you are not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about. Check out the "robot deer" post also in this same forum.
 
IMHO it's a waste of Police resources...member, vehicle etc.. Are there that many criminal offences occuring in the bush that
require Police presence?


it's so they can cover twice as much ground.. they can't be alone, so having an OPP officer gives them the ability to have twice patrols in the areas.

and the answer is YES, there are that many offenses out there (Poaching)..

as the CO (and his OPP partner ) put it.. We confiscated 12 moose on this road alone, and it's only wed. (Heard that a lot of moose where found left in the woods from previous years as well.)


If hunters where not breaking the laws, then they wouldn't need so many patrols.
 
If you are not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about.

Very true when those enforcing the law know the law....the rub comes when they don't. I'm guessing the Sheriffs aren't that familiar with the Wildlife Act and unfortunately, some try to cover this lack of knowledge with attitude. I've seen this far too often with provincial park rangers that I'm a bit jaded I guess. Not all do and I'm all for extra enforcement but I shouldn't have to explain the law to those charged with enforcing it. No knock against the Sheriffs but let them give speeding tickets and let F&W do F&W work.
 
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